Cerebelly Announces New Leadership
Grocery executive Don Clark has been named the new chief executive at baby food brand Cerebelly, as departing CEO Greg Shearson moves into a new role on the company’s board of directors.
Hoping to capitalize on the new CEO’s 30 years of experience leading merchandising teams at Target, Whole Foods and Giant Eagle, a spokesperson for Cerebelly said Clark’s first priorities would be “increasing velocity, growing distribution, and driving innovation.”
“Don’s enormous strategic acumen in scaling businesses and building teams at Whole Foods and Target is relevant to furthering the mission in a way that makes Cerebelly a key player in this category,”said Cerebelly chairman of the board Brent Knudsen. “After careful consideration, we unanimously determined that Don is the ideal person for the role with a wealth of expertise and we are confident that he will help this one-of-a-kind company reach its ambitious goals.”
Five-year-old Cerebelly has a dual pronged approach to distribution, devoting efforts towards growing in natural retailers such as Fresh Thyme and Whole Foods, while simultaneously also adding new distribution in conventional retailers such as Publix, Kroger and Target. The brand is currently sold in over 11,500 doors.
The news comes just days after Shearson announced in a LinkedIn post that he would leave Cerebelly as CEO, taking an advisory and mentorship role with the company’s board of directors. Shearson also is an investor in the baby food brand. Prior to Shearson, the company was run by Jen Zeszut, who is now CEO of mac and cheese brand Goodles.
“The timing is perfect for a gifted new leader to step into this role and prepare for the next chapter in the company’s growth,” said Shearson in a statement.
Cerebelly has already had an eventful year thus far, closing an oversubscribed $7 million Series A round in March as well as expanding its reach in retail to over 11,500 retail doors in both the U.S. and Canada. Cerebelly is currently available in Whole Foods, Target, Meijer, Kroger, Walmart and Publix among others as well as its ecommerce business on Thrive Market, Amazon and DTC through the Cerebelly website.
Co-founded in 2019 by Dr. Teresa Purzner, a practicing neurosurgeon and developmental neurobiologist, Cerebelly offers a variety of fruit and vegetable puree pouches and snack bars tailored to specific developmental ages. In January the company received the first U.S. patent of food composition designed to benefit infant neurodevelopment. The brand continues to jockey for space within the organic kids’ food category with other puree pouch brands like Brainiac, Once Upon A Farm and Serenity Kids as well as a number of private label competitors.
